Mavericks 86, Blazers 74

Another low scoring affair, this time with the positive result. It was good to be home, albeit without Josh Howard. Maybe Josh Howard should be MVP of the league, the Mavericks look worse without him than without Dirk. That's mostly a joke, but still a weird phenomenon. Anyway.

This game was never really in doubt and the better team won. Not sure what else you want other than that. Howard and Stackhouse didn't play, and didn't need to. Nowitzki played less minutes than ever before, but he was cold anyway. He ended up with a measly 11 points. It was the guard duo of Jason Terry and Devin Harris that took over this night. Terry had 22 at halftime and was simply taking over the game. He was great. He ended up with 29, which was sad because I thought he might just explode, but he tempered things down in the second half. Devin Harris had a lawnmower type game. Scored a little bit here, a little more here, a little bit more here, and then ended on a very solid note with 18 points. They controlled the flow of the game, allowing the reserves to do their thing.

Portland can be beaten even when they have their stars. They didn't have any of their big stars, with Zach Randolph and LaMarcus Aldridge already out, and the rookie of the year Brandon Roy declared inactive for the game. That pretty much seals the deal right there. If you can beat that team with those guys in there, then it shouldn't be a contest when they are out of it. And that's pretty much what happened. Jarrett Jack was really the only guy worth watching for them, he played a smart game and ended up with 18 points.

Kevin Willis made his Mavericks debut and second NBA debut after a few years away from the game. He did nothing but get 2 fouls in less than a minute and then sat back down. Ha. Sad. Moe Ager, the Mavs rookie draft pick, got significant minutes (24), scoring 8 points and getting 3 rebounds. Nothing to write home about.

Portland jacked up a ton of shots, 77 in all, and made only 29 for 38%. The Mavs shot 51%. Finally, the Mavs were able to dominate in free throw shots, 28 to 19 attempts. Problem is, they only made 16 of their 28, which is very bad for the best free-throw shooting team in the league, but it happens every now and then. Still not good. Rebounds were clearly in the Mavs favor, thanks in large part to 10 rebounds snagged by Diop and Croshere.

That's about it, folks. Next game vs. the Clippers tomorrow night. Could be a first-round matchup. More importantly, if the Mavs win, they get #1 in the West. It's practically inevitable, but it would be nice to get out of the way.